Swinging and folding door hanger construction



Sept. 1, 1925. 1,552,359

|.. c. THORNE I SWINGING AND FOLDING DOOR HANGER CONSTRUCTION I Filed May 6, 1925 2 Shlotl-Sh'lt 1 J31 K. .Hi Jail;

, Sept, 1, 1925.

L. C. THORNE wmeme AND FOLDING noon HANGER CONSTRUCTION Filed May 6, 1925 2 Sheets-$11001. 2

law/367202 6 777127 716 Patented Se t. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE C. THORNE, OF STERLING, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO FRANTZ MANUFACTUR- ING 00., OF STERLING, ILLINOIS, 'A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SWINGING AND FOLDING DOOR HANGER CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed May 6, 1925. Serial No. 28,298.

To all whom it may oo n cem:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE C. TIIORNE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Sterling, \Vhiteside County, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Swinging and Folding Door Hanger Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hangers for garage and other similar doors, and more particularly to doors which are composed of a plurality of sections which are adapt-- ed to fold and unfold, in the opening and closing of the door, as well as to swing around to either side of the doorway.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a double-swivel hanger for doors of this kind, having a spring applied to the horizontally swinging arm thereof, thereby to assist in the closing of the door and to insure accuracy in the clos iug of the swinging and folding door.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efiiciency and the desirability of a springactuated, double-swivel hanger of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in whieh,-

Fig. 1 is an inside elevation of a garage door having a hanger involving the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view looking down on the structur shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the hanger shown in Fig. 1, showing adjacent portions of the door and doorway, and the track upon which the hanger travels.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4. l in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail, horizontal sectlon on line 55 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a. front elevation of the hanger and adjacent parts, on a different scale,

showing the hanger reversed for use on a left-hand door, the door shown in Fig. 1 being a right-hand door, as it is adapted to open to the right.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, detail section on line 77 in Fig. 6.

can be of any suitable known or approved character, but as shown comprises a single door-section 1, which is hinged at 2, whereby this section may swing inwardly and around at one side of the doorway. The balance of the door structure comprises the door sections 3 and 4, which are hinged together at 5, the section 4 in turn being hinged at 6 to the right-hand side of the doorway. Of course, the hanger can be used on the outside of the building, but

preferably the doors open inwardly, and hence the hanger and track are inside of the building and just above the doorway.

As illustrated, the hanger comprises a hanger body 7 provided with wheels 8 that travel on the track 9, the latter being secured above the doorway in'any suit-able or desired manner. hanger body 7 is provided with a vertical pivot or swivel 10, the latter being inserted through the upper and lower flanges 11 and 12 bent out from the body of the hanger. The arm 13 is mounted on said pivot 10. to swing horizontally, and the outer end of the arm is bent down and disposed vertically in swivel bearings 14, which are rigidly secured to the door section 3 previously mentioned. Thus the arm 13 has a vertical pivot or swivel at each end thereof, thereby permitting the door sections 3 and 4 to swing around and fold against each other, and to swing back parallel with the track upon which the hanger travels, if such is desirable or necessary. The body 7 of the hanger-forms a stop at each side of the pivot 10, so that the arm 13 is limited in its swinging movement in either direction, and is held parallel with the track when the door is closed.

To assist the folding door structure in closing and to insure accurate closing thereof, a coil spring 15 is applied to the pivot 10, just above the arm 13, under the flange 11, in the manner shown. This spring has two extended end portions 16 and 17, and, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the end portion 6 bears against the body 7 at the right of the pivot 10, while the end portion 17 engages the projection or stud 18 on the top of the arm 13 previously described. It will be seen, therefore, that the normal tension and action of the spring 17 tends to keep the arm 13 pressed against the body 7 of the hanger, as shown more It will be seen that the clearly in Fig. 5, whereby the said spring yieldingly resists the outward swinging movement of the arm 13 which is necessary in order to permit the two door sections 3 and 4 to fold and swing back in open position at the right-hand side of the doorway. Then, of course, when the door is released from its open position, the spring 15 exerts its tension in a manner to swing the arm 13 back against the body 7, or against that portion of the body to the right of the pivot 10, and in so doing tends to move the door into its closed position, and insures the bringing of the edge. of the sec-- tion 3 into accurate position against the edge of the section 1, as the spring exerts its tension to keep the arm 13 parallel with the plane of the doorway.

Now, it will be seen that the spring 15 is reversible, and can be reversed in the manner shown in Figs. 6 and 7, for a door which is arranged to swing open to the left, instead of to the right, as shown in the drawings. Therefore, for a left-hand door, the arm 13 is swung around to the right of the pivot 10, and the end portion 16 of the spring is brought into engagement with the stud 1.8, while the end portion 17 is permitted to bear upon and react against the body 7 to the left of the pivot 10, in the manner shown more clearly in Fig. 7 of the drawings. Thus, in reversing the hanger, for either a right or a left door, it is only necessary to disengage the spring from the stud 18 and to then swing the arm 13 over to the other side and re-engage the stud with the other end of the spring.

It will be understood that any suitable means (not shown) can be employed for holding the door sections 3 and 4 in open position, and for bolting or looking the door sections in closed position. In closed position, the three door sections 1, 3 and 4 are in the same vertical plane, and the sections 3 and 4 are yieldingly held in this position by the spring 15, in the manner explained. As the door sections 3 and 4 are opened, the hanger travels to the right on the track 9, with the arm 13 parallel with the track, until the position is reached where the arm 13 must swing outwardly to permit the final opening movement of the door, and this outward movement of the arm 13 is yieldingly resisted by the spring 15, ,as such movement of the arm 13 bends the end portion 17 of the spring outwardly, thus tensioning the coils of the spring. Then, when the door is released from its open position, the force of the spring 15 causes the arm 13 to swing inwardly against the body of the hanger, and this action will continue until the door sections 3 and 4 have been moved far enough to permit the arm 13 to regain its normal position parallel with the track 9. Thus, when the folding door is fully closed, the left-hand, ver-; tical edge of the section 3 is necessarily in accurate closing oosition, as the spring does that automatically.

lVithout disclaiming anything, and without prejudice to any novelty disclosed, what I claim as my invention is:

1. In a swinging and folding door construction, comprising a plurality of door sections hinged together, a track and hanger adapted to travel thereon, a doubleswivel connection between said hanger and the door, one swivel comprising a vertical pivot on the hanger, and the other swivel forming a vertical pivot on the door, said connection comprisinga horizontally swinging arm extending from one pivot to the other, said arm being reversible to extend in either direction, depending upon whether the door is mounted to open to the right or the left, and a spring applied to the pivot on the hanger and adapted to engage said arm in either position thereof, adapted to yieldingly resist the swinging movement of the arm in the opening of the door.

2-. A structure as specified in claim 1, said spring being coiled around the pivot and having extended end portions, either end portion adapted to engage and react against the hanger body, and either end adapted to engage the swinging arm.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said spring having two opposite extended end portions, either end portion being adapted to engage the hanger body, and either end being adapted to engage and disengage the swinging arm, whereby the arm is reversible and adapted to engage either end portion of the spring.

4. A door hanger comprising a traveling hanger body, an arm pivoted at one end to swing horizontally on said hanger body, means to swivel the other end of the arm on a door, and a coil spring applied to the pivot on the hanger body to yieldingly hold said arm in the position which it must occupy when the door is closed.

5. A structure as specified-in claim 4, said coil spring having opposite extended end portions, either end portion being adapted to react against the hanger body, and either end portion being adapted to engage said 

